Chronicle of Stonewatch
The Chronicle of Stonewatch is the record kept concerning the reconstruction of an old keep west of the town of Stonewatch.The keep, whose original name was forgotten, was simply known as 'the ruin' by those in the town. The location was identified as originally dwarven built and the words 'Gol' (as dwarven ruins) were found carved into the hearth in the hall on the second floor. The word, translated, means 'Stone'. The Chronicle begins in the year 565 KR when a group of men were hired to destroy a small nest of Cave Goblins who had roosted in the chambers below the ruins of the keep. The keep is located a day's wagon ride north, north-west of the town and was claimed by one of the men, an alchemist, once was the job was done. The magistrate of the town was acceptable of his offer to hire from their settlement to help rebuild and clean up the ruins so as to eliminate any potential infestations in the future. The Chronicle was kept by the Chronicler of the town, at first, and then passed onto his successor. It is a record of expenses, projects, diagrams and discussions from the pen of the Alchemist and several of the builders in the town. Reconstruction 'Azun, 565 KR' The Apothecary has invited all of the craftsmen in the town and anyone needing work to meet at midday at the Hammer and Chisel to discuss his plans to reconstruct the Ruins north of town. After two years of bad harvests, many a man is in need of coin and food to get them through the season until harvest. I know that I've met the Alchemist before - when he and the other lads went up to the Ruins to clear out the goblins there, but for the life of me I can't remember his name. The man's name is Yorren, he is not a member of a noble house so I shall call him 'Yorren of Kel Arn'. He talked to the men and women gathered at the Hammer and Chisel for a while - nearly until the sun started to set - about what he wanted to do with that old ruin. He said that the best way to ensure that the fortress would not be used as a den or a nest ever again was to repair it and make it liveable again. The Magistrate was glad to hear that because his only other plan was to tear the whole thing down and we did not have the coin to pay for such a task. Yorren said that he would hire anyone who wanted to come work for him at the rate of a silver a day for laborers, three silver for apprentices, five for journeymen and ten for masters. Wages, he said, would be paid out weekly in town on Fireday evening once everyone returned from the day's labor. As I was the only one there who had the means to take notes of who wanted to work, Yorren asked if I would help him and hired me on the spot as his chronicler. Though i wasn't a 'Master' of any trade, he paid me a journeyman's wage just to keep track of what was going on. The magistrate only pays me with a roof over my head, materials and five silver a week - when they have the coin. Most of the time I get my meals at the Chisel because one of the town council owns it and he works for the magistrate. So I took everyone's name down who said that they wanted to work and would have to work with the masters to ensure that everyone was counted who showed up for work. As of the first day, Yorren had thirty laborers, six apprentices, three journeymen and three masters. The masters were Farren, the smith, Garrot the carpenter and, most importantly, big Skal the mason. The first month would be little more than cleaning up the site and letting the masters determine just how bad things were before they started to rebuild. It took some goading but eventually they got the men down into the lower chambers to clear out the bodies of the goblins. It had only been about two weeks but they were already festering something foul. We had a pyre burning away from the keep to get rid of their filth and anything else that needed to be burned. The smoke was black and you could smell their bodies burning all the way back in town. Thankfully the magistrate knew that this was coming and didn't put up too much of a fuss about it. "The smell of burning goblins is something that I'll tolerate if that means we're safe once more" he said. For the remainder of the month, the workers started to cut timber around the keep, clearing the old road which lead up from the Wyrmway to its gate and removing "anything tall enough to hide a goblins for a spear's throw from the walls". The pyre burned day and night with brush and foliage as the workers cut trees and timber though Yorren asked that they keep some of the trees within the courtyard - as he liked having them there to tie up horses and such when needed. The Masters aggreed that they needed to work 'from the cellar up' to repair the damages so that they wouldn't be building upon shakey ground. So the first step, after the bodies had been removed, was to haul out anything and everything that was down there and burn it all. Yorren supplied Alchemist Lamps to the workers so they could see without needing to hold onto torches. The light cast by those things was something to see - bright as day without a flame. Roan 565 KR In only one month's time, the progress of the workers has been impressive. Rather than try and make trip back and forth to the keep each day, the workers have built a small camp outside of the keep to house them for the week. Work stops at mid-day on Fireday - as is the custom on most sites, allowing the workers who wish to walk back to town can do so. No wages are paid on Satyrday or Soulday, though work does sometimes continue. Every week began with the 'Mournday March' with the workers leaving early to head up the Wyrmway to get to the camp by mid-day. The workers were accompanied by the first wagon run of the week which usually carried at least one wagon of food for the camp and another wagon with materials and supplies for the workers. For the week's end, when most of the workers returned to the town, the keep was watched by the guard Yorren had hired - separate from that of the town guard. Those workers who had shirked in their duties during the week or needed to get ahead before the work resumed on Mournday. Since the workers were living up at the camp during the week, that meant that Yorren had to keep them fed while they were up there. That meant that a wagon load of food had to be sent up twice a week which was well-timed because it could go with the other wagons which carried additional materials, tools and the like - anything which Yorren had purchased. The Magistrate even offered to supply the wagon convoys with town guards to ensure that they got there and back without any hassel. Several businesses had already had to start importing goods from merchants in Baron's Bridge to keep up with the demand and the coin going around. Yorren had a standing order with the two bakers in town for fifty loaves to go up with the wagons - they needed to import more flour just to keep up. The foundation for the walls of the keep had been repaired in a few places and completely rebuilt in others, allowing the lower chambers to once again be used for storage of food and materials as it was only the only level which was completed within the first two months. The cellars of the keep were shored up with stone as needed and hung with Alchemist Lamps to keep it well lit both for the workers and for the masters who made it their home while they were working on the floors above. The camp founded outside of the keep was in a large, level, recently cleared section to the right of the main gate along the road which connected the stronghold to the main road. Map 'Cellar' #Open Chamber: This was originally used by the builders as a sort of central office since it was under a roof, of sorts, and had enough space to spread out plans and discuss the projects of the day and week. Tressle tables were arranged on either side of the stairs that went up into the court yard with a few alchemical lamps hanging from the rafters above. Eventually this becomes little more than immediate storage for the keep - the place where you put things when you don't know where else to put them. #X #X #X #X #X #Servant's Quarters: This eventually becomes the sleeping room of the hearth boys of the keep - those who cut and haul firewood, fetch water and the like. They were given each a rope bed with a straw mattress for their many weeks of work on the building site before being hired as a servant within the Keep. #Dry Stores: A circular stair leads up to the kitchen above and this room is equipped with shelves on three walls - allowing it to serve as a default pantry for the Keep. #Wine Cellar: Racks ready to be filled with barrels and casks are set against the far wall with shelves to hold the occasional bottle of wine or dwarf spirits are arranged to hold the keep's store of beverages. #Cold Storage: Shelves hold clay and occasionally glass jars filled with pickeled everything. 'Ground Floor' #Gated Entrance: The entrance is guarded by an iron portcullis and a set of sturdy wooden doors. #Guard Outpost: The outposts are placed there to allow archers to shoot through arrow loops in the front wall towards any attacker. #Guard Room: A simple barracks holding five men-at-arms within a single room. The chamber is connected to a servant's hall (4). #Servant's Room: A room to house up to four of the servants of the Keep. #Courtyard #Kitchen #X #X #X #X #X 'First Floor' #Lord's Hall # #X #X #Courtyard #Kitchen #X #X #X #X #X Category:Chronicle/North Marches Category:Chronicle Category:Event/565 KR